Push messaging architecture for online games

ABSTRACT

A system has a first web node, a first server node, a second server node, a push messaging server, and a second web node. The first web node receives a message from a first player at a first client node for a second player at a second client node within an online game. The first server node maintains a first persistent connection with the first client node. The second server node maintains a second persistent connection with the second client node. The push messaging server stores a game state of the first and second players of the online game, updates the game state based on the message, and notifies the first and second server node. The second web node receives the message from the push messaging server and forwards the message to the second client node via the second persistent connection.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from provisional U.S. PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/597,054, filed Feb. 9, 2012, the entire contentsof which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Users and players of online games increasingly rely on fast and reliablenotification of messages to stay in touch with the progress of a gameand communicate with each other. However, polling servers for messageshas proven unreliable where some messages are not timely processed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way ofexample, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a system for implementingparticular disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of a social network.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of anoperation of a push messaging server.

FIG. 4A illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a methodfor messaging players.

FIG. 4B illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a methodfor messaging players.

FIG. 4C illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a methodfor messaging players.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example embodiment of a data flow in a system.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example embodiment of a push messaging server.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example embodiment of a network environment.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example embodiment of a computer systemarchitecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although the present inventive subject matter has been described withreference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made to these embodimentswithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the disclosedinventive subject matter. Accordingly, the specification and drawingsare to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

A system has a first web node, a first server node, a second servernode, a push messaging server, and a second web node. The first web nodereceives a message from a first player at a first client node for asecond player at a second client node within an online game. The firstserver node maintains a first persistent connection with the firstclient node. The second server node maintains a second persistentconnection with the second client node. The push messaging server storesa game state of the first and second players of the online game, updatesthe game state based on the message, and notifies the message to thefirst and second server node. The second web node receives the messagefrom the push messaging server and forwards the message to the secondclient node after the second server node notifies the second client nodeof the message via the second persistent connection.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for implementing variousdisclosed embodiments. In particular embodiments, system 100 comprisesplayer 101, social networking system 120 a, game networking system 120b, client system 130, and network 160. The components of system 100 canbe connected to each other in any suitable configuration, using anysuitable type of connection. The components may be connected directly orover a network 160, which may be any suitable network. For example, oneor more portions of network 160 may be an ad hoc network, an intranet,an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network(LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN(WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, aportion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellulartelephone network, another type of network, or a combination of two ormore such networks.

Social networking system 120 a is a network-addressable computing systemthat can host one or more social graphs. Social networking system 120 acan generate, store, receive, and transmit social networking data.Social networking system 120 a can be accessed by the other componentsof system 100 either directly or via network 160. Game networking system120 b is a network-addressable computing system that can host one ormore online games. Game networking system 120 b can generate, store,receive, and transmit game-related data, such as, for example, gameaccount data, game input, game state data, and game displays. Gamenetworking system 120 b can be accessed by the other components ofsystem 100 either directly or via network 160. Player 101 may use clientsystem 130 to access, send data to, and receive data from socialnetworking system 120 a and game networking system 120 b. Client system130 can access social networking system 120 a or game networking system120 b directly, via network 160, or via a third-party system. As anexample and not by way of limitation, client system 130 may access gamenetworking system 120 b via social networking system 120 a. Clientsystem 130 can be any suitable computing device, such as a personalcomputer, laptop, cellular phone, smart phone, computing tablet, etc.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates a particular number of players 101, socialnetworking systems 120 a, game networking systems 120 b, client systems130, and networks 160, this disclosure contemplates any suitable numberof players 101, social networking systems 120 a, game networking systems120 b, client systems 130, and networks 160. As an example and not byway of limitation, system 100 may include one or more game networkingsystems 120 b and no social networking systems 120 a. As another exampleand not by way of limitation, system 100 may include a system thatcomprises both social networking system 120 a and game networking system120 b. Moreover, although FIG. 1 illustrates a particular arrangement ofplayer 101, social networking system 120 a, game networking system 120b, client system 130, and network 160, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable arrangement of player 101, social networking system 120 a, gamenetworking system 120 b, client system 130, and network 160.

The components of system 100 may be connected to each other using anysuitable connections 110. For example, suitable connections 110 includewireline (such as, for example, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or DataOver Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS)), wireless (such as,for example, Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX)) or optical (such as, for example, Synchronous Optical Network(SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) connections. Inparticular embodiments, one or more connections 110 each include an adhoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, aWWAN, a MAN, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, acellular telephone network, or another type of connection, or acombination of two or more such connections. Connections 110 need notnecessarily be the same throughout system 100. One or more firstconnections 110 may differ in one or more respects from one or moresecond connections 110. Although FIG. 1 illustrates particularconnections between player 101, social networking system 120 a, gamenetworking system 120 b, client system 130, and network 160, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable connections between player 101,social networking system 120 a, game networking system 120 b, clientsystem 130, and network 160. As an example and not by way of limitation,in particular embodiments, client system 130 may have a directconnection to social networking system 120 a or game networking system120 b, bypassing network 160.

Online Games and Game Systems Game Networking System

In an online computer game, a game engine manages the game state of thegame. Game state comprises all game play parameters, including playercharacter state, non-player character (NPC) state, in-game object state,game world state (e.g., internal game clocks, game environment), andother game play parameters. Each player 101 controls one or more playercharacters (PCs). The game engine controls all other aspects of thegame, including non-player characters (NPCs), and in-game objects. Thegame engine also manages game state, including player character statefor currently active (online) and inactive (offline) players.

An online game can be hosted by game networking system 120 b, which canbe accessed using any suitable connection with a suitable client system130. A player 101 may have a game account on game networking system 120b, wherein the game account can contain a variety of informationassociated with the player 101 (e.g., the player's personal information,financial information, purchase history, player character state, gamestate). In some embodiments, a player 101 may play multiple games ongame networking system 120 b, which may maintain a single game accountfor the player 101 with respect to all the games, or multiple individualgame accounts for each game with respect to the player 101. In someembodiments, game networking system 120 b can assign a unique identifierto each player 101 of an online game hosted on game networking system120 b. Game networking system 120 b can determine that a player 101 isaccessing the online game by reading the user's cookies, which may beappended to HTTP requests transmitted by client system 130, and/or bythe player 101 logging onto the online game.

In particular embodiments, player 101 may access an online game andcontrol the game's progress via client system 130 (e.g., by inputtingcommands to the game at the client device). Client system 130 candisplay the game interface, receive inputs from player 101, transmituser inputs or other events to the game engine, and receive instructionsfrom the game engine. The game engine can be executed on any suitablesystem (such as, for example, client system 130, social networkingsystem 120 a, or game networking system 120 b). As an example and not byway of limitation, client system 130 can download client components ofan online game, which are executed locally, while a remote game server,such as game networking system 120 b, provides backend support for theclient components and may be responsible for maintaining applicationdata of the game, processing the inputs from the player 101, updatingand/or synchronizing the game state based on the game logic and eachinput from the player 101, and transmitting instructions to clientsystem 130. As another example and not by way of limitation, each timeplayer 101 provides an input to the game through the client system 130(such as, for example, by typing on the keyboard or clicking the mouseof client system 130), the client components of the game may transmitthe player's input to game networking system 120 b.

Game Systems, Social Networks, and Social Graphs

In an online multiplayer game, players may control player characters(PCs), a game engine controls non-player characters (NPCs) and gamefeatures, and the game engine also manages player character state andgame state and tracks the state for currently active (i.e., online)players and currently inactive (i.e., offline) players. A playercharacter can have a set of attributes and a set of friends associatedwith the player character. As used herein, the term “player characterstate” can refer to any in-game characteristic of a player character,such as location, assets, levels, condition, health, status, inventory,skill set, name, orientation, affiliation, specialty, and so on. Playercharacters may be displayed as graphical avatars within a user interfaceof the game. In other implementations, no avatar or other graphicalrepresentation of the player character is displayed. Game stateencompasses the notion of player character state and refers to anyparameter value that characterizes the state of an in-game element, suchas a non-player character, a virtual object (such as a wall or castle),etc. The game engine may use player character state to determine theoutcome of game events, sometimes also considering set or randomvariables. Generally, a player character's probability of having a morefavorable outcome is greater when the player character has a betterstate. For example, a healthier player character is less likely to diein a particular encounter relative to a weaker player character ornon-player character. In some embodiments, the game engine can assign aunique client identifier to each player.

In particular embodiments, player 101 may access particular gameinstances of an online game. A game instance is copy of a specific gameplay area that is created during runtime. In particular embodiments, agame instance is a discrete game play area where one or more players 101can interact in synchronous or asynchronous play. A game instance maybe, for example, a level, zone, area, region, location, virtual space,or other suitable play area. A game instance may be populated by one ormore in-game objects. Each object may be defined within the gameinstance by one or more variables, such as, for example, position,height, width, depth, direction, time, duration, speed, color, and othersuitable variables. A game instance may be exclusive (i.e., accessibleby specific players) or non-exclusive (i.e., accessible by any player).In particular embodiments, a game instance is populated by one or moreplayer characters controlled by one or more players 101 and one or morein-game objects controlled by the game engine. When accessing an onlinegame, the game engine may allow player 101 to select a particular gameinstance to play from a plurality of game instances. Alternatively, thegame engine may automatically select the game instance that player 101will access. In particular embodiments, an online game comprises onlyone game instance that all players 101 of the online game can access.

In particular embodiments, a specific game instance may be associatedwith one or more specific players. A game instance is associated with aspecific player when one or more game parameters of the game instanceare associated with the specific player. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a game instance associated with a first player may be named“First Player's Play Area.” This game instance may be populated with thefirst player's PC and one or more in-game objects associated with thefirst player. In particular embodiments, a game instance associated witha specific player may only be accessible by that specific player. As anexample and not by way of limitation, a first player may access a firstgame instance when playing an online game, and this first game instancemay be inaccessible to all other players. In other embodiments, a gameinstance associated with a specific player may be accessible by one ormore other players, either synchronously or asynchronously with thespecific player's game play. As an example and not by way of limitation,a first player may be associated with a first game instance, but thefirst game instance may be accessed by all first-degree friends in thefirst player's social network. In particular embodiments, the gameengine may create a specific game instance for a specific player whenthat player accesses the game. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the game engine may create a first game instance when afirst player initially accesses an online game, and that same gameinstance may be loaded each time the first player accesses the game. Asanother example and not by way of limitation, the game engine may createa new game instance each time a first player accesses an online game,wherein each game instance may be created randomly or selected from aset of predetermined game instances. In particular embodiments, the setof in-game actions available to a specific player may be different in agame instance that is associated with that player compared to a gameinstance that is not associated with that player. The set of in-gameactions available to a specific player in a game instance associatedwith that player may be a subset, superset, or independent of the set ofin-game actions available to that player in a game instance that is notassociated with him. As an example and not by way of limitation, a firstplayer may be associated with Blackacre Farm in an online farming game.The first player may be able to plant crops on Blackacre Farm. If thefirst player accesses game instance associated with another player, suchas Whiteacre Farm, the game engine may not allow the first player toplant crops in that game instance. However, other in-game actions may beavailable to the first player, such as watering or fertilizing crops onWhiteacre Farm.

In particular embodiments, a game engine can interface with a socialgraph. Social graphs are models of connections between entities (e.g.,individuals, users, contacts, friends, players, player characters,non-player characters, businesses, groups, associations, concepts,etc.). These entities are considered “users” of the social graph; assuch, the terms “entity” and “user” may be used interchangeably whenreferring to social graphs herein. A social graph can have a node foreach entity and edges to represent relationships between entities. Anode in a social graph can represent any entity. In particularembodiments, a unique client identifier can be assigned to each user inthe social graph. This disclosure assumes that at least one entity of asocial graph is a player or player character in an online multiplayergame, though this disclosure contemplates any suitable social graphusers.

The minimum number of edges to connect a player (or player character) toanother user is considered the degree of separation between them. Forexample, where the player and the user are directly connected (oneedge), they are deemed to be separated by one degree of separation. Theuser would be a so-called “first-degree friend” of the player. Where theplayer and the user are connected through one other user (two edges),they are deemed to be separated by two degrees of separation. This userwould be a so-called “second-degree friend” of the player. Where theplayer and the user are connected through N edges (or N−1 other users),they are deemed to be separated by N degrees of separation. This userwould be a so-called “Nth-degree friend.” As used herein, the term“friend” means only first-degree friends, unless context suggestsotherwise.

Within the social graph, each player (or player character) has a socialnetwork. A player's social network includes all users in the socialgraph within Nmax degrees of the player, where Nmax is the maximumdegree of separation allowed by the system managing the social graph(such as, for example, social networking system 120 a or game networkingsystem 120 b). In one embodiment, Nmax equals 1, such that the player'ssocial network includes only first-degree friends. In anotherembodiment, Nmax is unlimited and the player's social network iscoextensive with the social graph.

In particular embodiments, the social graph is managed by gamenetworking system 120 b, which is managed by the game operator. In otherembodiments, the social graph is part of a social networking system 120a managed by a third-party (e.g., Facebook, Friendster, Myspace). In yetother embodiments, player 101 has a social network on both gamenetworking system 120 b and social networking system 120 a, whereinplayer 101 can have a social network on the game networking system 120 bthat is a subset, superset, or independent of the player's socialnetwork on social networking system 120 a. In such combined systems,game networking system 120 b can maintain social graph information withedge type attributes that indicate whether a given friend is an “in-gamefriend,” an “out-of-game friend,” or both. The various embodimentsdisclosed herein are operable when the social graph is managed by socialnetworking system 120 a, game networking system 120 b, or both.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a social network within a social graph. Asshown, Player 201 can be associated, connected or linked to variousother users, or “friends,” within the social network 200. Theseassociations, connections or links can track relationships between userswithin the social network 200 and are commonly referred to as online“friends” or “friendships” between users. Each friend or friendship in aparticular user's social network within a social graph is commonlyreferred to as a “node.” For purposes of illustration and not by way oflimitation, the details of social network 200 will be described inrelation to Player 201. As used herein, the terms “player” and “user”can be used interchangeably and can refer to any user or character in anonline multiuser game system or social networking system. As usedherein, the term “friend” can mean any node within a player's socialnetwork.

As shown in FIG. 2, Player 201 has direct connections with severalfriends. When Player 201 has a direct connection with anotherindividual, that connection is referred to as a first-degree friend. Insocial network 200, Player 201 has two first-degree friends. That is,Player 201 is directly connected to Friend 1₁ 211 and Friend 2₁ 221. Ina social graph, it is possible for individuals to be connected to otherindividuals through their first-degree friends (i.e., friends offriends). As described above, each edge connecting a player to anotheruser is considered the degree of separation. For example, FIG. 2 showsthat Player 201 has three second-degree friends to which he is connectedvia his connection to his first-degree friends. Second-degree Friend 1₂212 and Friend 2₂ 222 are connected to Player 201 via his first-degreeFriend 1₁ 211. The limit on the depth of friend connections, or thenumber of degrees of separation for associations, that Player 201 isallowed is typically dictated by the restrictions and policiesimplemented by social networking system 120 a.

In various embodiments, Player 201 can have Nth-degree friends connectedto him through a chain of intermediary degree friends as indicated inFIG. 2. For example, Nth-degree Friend 1_(N) 219 is connected to Player201 via second-degree Friend 3₂ 232 and one or more other higher-degreefriends. Various embodiments may take advantage of and utilize thedistinction between the various degrees of friendship relative to Player201.

In particular embodiments, a player (or player character) can have asocial graph within an online multiplayer game that is maintained by thegame engine and another social graph maintained by a separate socialnetworking system. FIG. 2 depicts an example of in-game social network260 and out-of-game social network 250. In this example, Player 201 hasout-of-game connections 255 to a plurality of friends, formingout-of-game social network 250. Here, Friend 1₁ 211 and Friend 2₁ 221are first-degree friends with Player 201 in his out-of-game socialnetwork 250. Player 201 also has in-game connections 265 to a pluralityof players, forming in-game social network 260. Here, Friend 2₁ 221,Friend 3₁ 231, and Friend 4₁ 241 are first-degree friends with Player201 in his in-game social network 260. In some embodiments, it ispossible for a friend to be in both the out-of-game social network 250and the in-game social network 260. Here, Friend 2₁ 221 has both anout-of-game connection 255 and an in-game connection 265 with Player201, such that Friend 2₁ 221 is in both Player 201's in-game socialnetwork 260 and Player 201's out-of-game social network 250.

As with other social networks, Player 201 can have second-degree andhigher-degree friends in both his in-game social network 260 andout-of-game social network 250. In some embodiments, it is possible forPlayer 201 to have a friend connected to him both in his in-game socialnetwork 260 and out-of-game social network 250, wherein the friend is atdifferent degrees of separation in each network. For example, if Friend2₂ 222 had a direct in-game connection with Player 201, Friend 2₂ 222would be a second-degree friend in Player 201's out-of-game socialnetwork 250, but a first-degree friend in Player 201's in-game socialnetwork 260. In particular embodiments, a game engine can access in-gamesocial network 260, out-of-game social network 250, or both.

In particular embodiments, the connections in a player's in-game socialnetwork 260 can be formed both explicitly (e.g., users have to “friend”each other) and implicitly (e.g., system observes user behaviors and“friends” users to each other). Unless otherwise indicated, reference toa friend connection between two or more players can be interpreted tocover both explicit and implicit connections, using one or more socialgraphs and other factors to infer friend connections. The friendconnections can be unidirectional or bidirectional. It is also not alimitation of this description that two players who are deemed “friends”for the purposes of this disclosure are not friends in real life (i.e.,in disintermediated interactions or the like), but that could be thecase.

Game Systems

A game event may be an outcome of an engagement, a provision of access,rights and/or benefits, or the obtaining of some assets (e.g., health,money, strength, inventory, land, etc.). A game engine determines theoutcome of a game event according to a variety of factors, such as thegame rules, a player character's in-game actions, player characterstate, game state, interactions of other player characters, and randomcalculations. Engagements can include simple tasks (e.g., plant a crop,clean a stove), complex tasks (e.g., build a farm or business, run acafé), or other events.

An online game can be hosted by a game networking system, which can beaccessed over any suitable network with an appropriate client system. Aplayer may have a game system account on game system, wherein the gamesystem account can contain a variety of information about the player(e.g., the player's personal information, player character state, gamestate, etc.). In various embodiments, an online game can be embeddedinto a third-party website. The game can be hosted by the networkingsystem of the third-party website, or it can be hosted on the gamesystem and merely accessed via the third-party website. The embeddedonline game can be hosted solely on a server of the game system or usinga third-party vendor server. In addition, any combination of thefunctions of the present disclosure can be hosted on or provided fromany number of distributed network resources. For example, one or moreexecutable code objects that implement all or a portion of the game canbe downloaded to a client system for execution.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of anoperation of a push messaging server. Traditional messaging system suchas COMET may be used for polling servers. However, some messages may notgo through because that particular messaging system may be unreliablesince it has no direct connection with a server to which the recipientis connected.

The present application seeks to describe a push messaging architecturefor Flash games that is more reliable. Push notification to Flash gamesis made more reliable by using periodic polling and direct connection toa server. Each user has a message blob, stored in lossy memcache. Theblob contains messages destined for that user, a list of users presenton that user's game board, and the web server address the user has beenassigned to. The web server may also be referred to as a zoom serverhaving a persistent direct connection.

Flash client polls the server for new messages on interval (60 sec) withAMF transaction. Additionally, the client has an active connection to azoom server. A version of zoom that supports thrift may be used. Whenweb nodes have data to push to a client, the message is added to thetarget user's blob, and then their user ID (UID) is put into a queue.

A consumer picks up the UID and does php thrift push to the zoom nodestored in that user's message blob to notify the client. When the clientreceives data on the zoom connection, the client fetches new messagesfrom the server and resets the poll timer. The Flash client informs theserver what game board/world the client is currently viewing on worldload and on a five-minute interval. This keeps presence information onthe server up to date.

Zoom memcached.properties file is kept up to date by a script thatsynchronizes this file with a memcache server list stored in a centralkey-value store. Zoom will reload the memcached.properties file when thecontents change. The client fires an AMF transaction on startup to askfor a zoom server address, which is chosen from a list at random. If theclient cannot connect, it will back off retry until the retry delay isintolerably long, at which point it will ask the server for a newaddress. This results in relatively equal distribution of users overnormally-functioning servers.

For example, Blob (User blob) may include a serialized and persistedbinary representation of the player's game state, including resources,level, social network information, list of neighbors, identity (name,email, etc.) and game board (map, attractions, roads, businesses, NPCs,etc). It is organized into three major components: “User”, “Player” &“world”. The Blob record is stored on the servers, in a database, namelyMembase, identified by the user's “ZID”.

A Zoom server may include a server instance which maintains a persistentconnection with the active player's game, allowing messages to be pushedto the game actively without waiting for the player to make a request.Messages are sent from user to user (via Zoom servers) or from server touser.

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram that represents the routes of messagepassing when “Mike”, a player at client node 302, tries to send amessage, e.g., “I just tended your farm X”, to “Aaron”, a player atclient node 318. The nodes 302 and 318 are client hosts. The nodes 304,312, 314, and 316 are server hosts. The arrows represent thecommunication path.

For example, Mike initiates the message at client node 302 by sending amessage request to web node 304 and zoom node 314. Web node 304 insertsone entry each into the memcache 308 (MC, which stores the list ofmessage content) and MemQueue 306 (MQ, which stores a queue of messagesto process). “Consumer: Messaging” 310 processes the queue on MQ 306 andsends the message to zoom nodes 314 and 316. Because zoom node 316 hasan active connection with the client node 318 of the player “Aaron,”zoom node 316 notifies the client node 318 of the message.

FIG. 4A illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a method400 for messaging players. At operation 402, a message is received at aweb node from a sender client. At operation 404, one entry is eachinserted into a memcache and a memqueue. At operation 406, the messagequeue is processed and the message is sent to the web nodes. Atoperation 408, the web node(s) having an active connection with areceiving client forwards the message accordingly.

FIG. 4B illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a method401 for messaging players. At operation 410, each player of the onlinegame is assigned to a corresponding message blob. Every user has amessage blob, stored in lossy memcache. The blob contains messagesdestined for that user, a list of users present on that user's gameboard, and the zoom server address the user has been assigned.

At operation 412, Flash client polls the server for new messages oninterval (60 sec) with AMF transaction.

At operation 414, the client has an active connection to a zoom server.In one embodiment, the ZDC's version of zoom since it supports thrift.

At operation 416, the message is added to the player's correspondingmessage blob.

At operation 418, a consumer picks up the UID and does php thrift pushto the zoom node stored in that user's message blob to notify theirclient. In one embodiment, the number of other games played isdetermined with a count of the number of other games played by the userduring a last predetermined number of months.

At operation 420, when the client receives data on the zoom connection,the client fetches new messages from the server and resets the polltimer.

FIG. 4C illustrates a flow diagram of an example embodiment of a method403 for messaging players. At operation 422, a flash client informs theserver what game board/world the client is currently viewing on worldload and on 5 min interval. This keeps presence information on theserver up to date. Zoom memcached.properties file is kept up to date bya script that synchronizes this file with the memcache server liststored in ZRT. ZDC's version of zoom will reload thememcached.properties file when the contents change

At operation 424, client fires an AMF transaction on startup to ask fora zoom server address, which is chosen from a list at random. Atoperation 426, if the client cannot connect, it will backoff retry untilthe retry delay is intolerably long, at which point it will ask theserver for a new address. This results in relatively equal distributionof users over normally-functioning servers.

Data Flow

FIG. 5A illustrates an example data flow between the components ofsystem 500. In particular embodiments, system 500 can include clientsystem 530, social networking system 520 a, and game networking system520 b. The components of system 500 can be connected to each other inany suitable configuration, using any suitable type of connection. Thecomponents may be connected directly or over any suitable network.Client system 530, social networking system 520 a, and game networkingsystem 520 b can each have one or more corresponding data stores such aslocal data store 525, social data store 545, and game data store 565,respectively. Social networking system 520 a and game networking system520 b can also have one or more servers that can communicate with clientsystem 530 over an appropriate network. Social networking system 520 aand game networking system 520 b can have, for example, one or moreinternet servers for communicating with client system 530 via theInternet. Similarly, social networking system 520 a and game networkingsystem 520 b can have one or more mobile servers for communicating withclient system 530 via a mobile network (e.g., GSM, PCS, Wi-Fi, WPAN,etc.). In some embodiments, one server may be able to communicate withclient system 530 over both the Internet and a mobile network. In otherembodiments, separate servers can be used.

Client system 530 can receive and transmit data 523 to and from gamenetworking system 520 b. This data 523 can include, for example,webpages, messages, game inputs, game displays, HTTP packets, datarequests, transaction information, updates, and other suitable data. Atsome other time, or at the same time, game networking system 520 b cancommunicate data 543, 547 (e.g., game state information, game systemaccount information, page info, messages, data requests, updates, etc.)with other networking systems, such as social networking system 520 a(e.g., Facebook, Myspace, etc.). Client system 530 can also receive andtransmit data 527 to and from social networking system 520 a. This data527 can include, for example, webpages, messages, social graphinformation, social network displays, HTTP packets, data requests,transaction information, updates, and other suitable data.

Communication between client system 530, social networking system 520 a,and game networking system 520 b can occur over any appropriateelectronic communication medium or network using any suitablecommunications protocols. For example, client system 530, as well asvarious servers of the systems described herein, may include TransportControl Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networking stacks to providefor datagram and transport functions. Of course, any other suitablenetwork and transport layer protocols can be utilized.

In addition, hosts or end-systems described herein may use a variety ofhigher layer communications protocols, including client-server (orrequest-response) protocols, such as the HyperText Transfer Protocol(HTTP) and other communications protocols, such as HTTP-S, FTP, SNMP,TELNET, and a number of other protocols, may be used. In addition, aserver in one interaction context may be a client in another interactioncontext. In particular embodiments, the information transmitted betweenhosts may be formatted as HyperText Markup Language (HTML) documents.Other structured document languages or formats can be used, such as XML,and the like. Executable code objects, such as JavaScript andActionScript, can also be embedded in the structured documents.

In some client-server protocols, such as the use of HTML over HTTP, aserver generally transmits a response to a request from a client. Theresponse may comprise one or more data objects. For example, theresponse may comprise a first data object, followed by subsequentlytransmitted data objects. In particular embodiments, a client requestmay cause a server to respond with a first data object, such as an HTMLpage, which itself refers to other data objects. A client application,such as a browser, will request these additional data objects as itparses or otherwise processes the first data object.

In particular embodiments, an instance of an online game can be storedas a set of game state parameters that characterize the state of variousin-game objects, such as, for example, player character stateparameters, non-player character parameters, and virtual itemparameters. In particular embodiments, game state is maintained in adatabase as a serialized, unstructured string of text data as aso-called Binary Large Object (BLOB). When a player accesses an onlinegame on game networking system 520 b, the BLOB containing the game statefor the instance corresponding to the player can be transmitted toclient system 530 for use by a client-side executed object to process.In particular embodiments, the client-side executable may be aFLASH-based game, which can de-serialize the game state data in theBLOB. As a player plays the game, the game logic implemented at clientsystem 530 maintains and modifies the various game state parameterslocally. The client-side game logic may also batch game events, such asmouse clicks, and transmit these events to game networking system 520 b.Game networking system 520 b may itself operate by retrieving a copy ofthe BLOB from a database or an intermediate memory cache (memcache)layer. Game networking system 520 b can also de-serialize the BLOB toresolve the game state parameters and execute its own game logic basedon the events in the batch file of events transmitted by the clientsystem 530 to synchronize the game state on the server side. Gamenetworking system 520 b may then re-serialize the game state, nowmodified, into a BLOB and pass this to a memory cache layer for lazyupdates to a persistent database.

With a client-server environment in which the online games may run, oneserver system, such as game networking system 520 b, may supportmultiple client systems 530. At any given time, there may be multipleplayers at multiple client systems 530 all playing the same online game.In practice, the number of players playing the same game at the sametime may be very large. As the game progresses with each player,multiple players may provide different inputs to the online game attheir respective client systems 530, and multiple client systems 530 maytransmit multiple player inputs and/or game events to game networkingsystem 520 b for further processing. In addition, multiple clientsystems 530 may transmit other types of application data to gamenetworking system 520 b.

In particular embodiments, a computer-implemented game may be atext-based or turn-based game implemented as a series of web pages thatare generated after a player selects one or more actions to perform. Theweb pages may be displayed in a browser client executed on client system530. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client applicationdownloaded to client system 530 may operate to serve a set of webpagesto a player. As another example and not by way of limitation, acomputer-implemented game may be an animated or rendered game executableas a stand-alone application or within the context of a webpage or otherstructured document. In particular embodiments, the computer-implementedgame may be implemented using Adobe Flash-based technologies. As anexample and not by way of limitation, a game may be fully or partiallyimplemented as a SWF object that is embedded in a web page andexecutable by a Flash media player plug-in. In particular embodiments,one or more described webpages may be associated with or accessed bysocial networking system 520 a. This disclosure contemplates using anysuitable application for the retrieval and rendering of structureddocuments hosted by any suitable network-addressable resource orwebsite.

Application event data of a game is any data relevant to the game (e.g.,player inputs). In particular embodiments, each application datum mayhave a name and a value, and the value of the application datum maychange (i.e., be updated) at any time. When an update to an applicationdatum occurs at client system 530, either caused by an action of a gameplayer or by the game logic itself, client system 530 may need to informgame networking system 520 b of the update. For example, if the game isa farming game with a harvest mechanic (such as Zynga FarmVille), anevent can correspond to a player clicking on a parcel of land to harvesta crop. In such an instance, the application event data may identify anevent or action (e.g., harvest) and an object in the game to which theevent or action applies. For illustration purposes and not by way oflimitation, system 500 is discussed in reference to updating amulti-player online game hosted on a network-addressable system (suchas, for example, social networking system 520 a or game networkingsystem 520 b), where an instance of the online game is executed remotelyon a client system 530, which then transmits application event data tothe hosting system such that the remote game server synchronizes thegame state associated with the instance executed by the client system530.

In a particular embodiment, one or more objects of a game may berepresented as an Adobe Flash object. Flash may manipulate vector andraster graphics, and supports bidirectional streaming of audio andvideo. “Flash” may mean the authoring environment, the player, or theapplication files. In particular embodiments, client system 530 mayinclude a Flash client. The Flash client may be configured to receiveand run Flash application or game object code from any suitablenetworking system (such as, for example, social networking system 520 aor game networking system 520 b). In particular embodiments, the Flashclient may be run in a browser client executed on client system 530. Aplayer can interact with Flash objects using client system 530 and theFlash client. The Flash objects can represent a variety of in-gameobjects. Thus, the player may perform various in-game actions on variousin-game objects by make various changes and updates to the associatedFlash objects. In particular embodiments, in-game actions can beinitiated by clicking or similarly interacting with a Flash object thatrepresents a particular in-game object. For example, a player caninteract with a Flash object to use, move, rotate, delete, attack,shoot, or harvest an in-game object. This disclosure contemplatesperforming any suitable in-game action by interacting with any suitableFlash object. In particular embodiments, when the player makes a changeto a Flash object representing an in-game object, the client-executedgame logic may update one or more game state parameters associated withthe in-game object. To ensure synchronization between the Flash objectshown to the player at client system 530, the Flash client may send theevents that caused the game state changes to the in-game object to gamenetworking system 520 b. However, to expedite the processing and hencethe speed of the overall gaming experience, the Flash client may collecta batch of some number of events or updates into a batch file. Thenumber of events or updates may be determined by the Flash clientdynamically or determined by game networking system 520 b based onserver loads or other factors. For example, client system 530 may send abatch file to game networking system 520 b whenever 50 updates have beencollected or after a threshold period of time, such as every minute.

As used herein, the term “application event data” may refer to any datarelevant to a computer-implemented game application that may affect oneor more game state parameters, including, for example and withoutlimitation, changes to player data or metadata, changes to player socialconnections or contacts, player inputs to the game, and events generatedby the game logic. In particular embodiments, each application datum mayhave a name and a value. The value of an application datum may change atany time in response to the game play of a player or in response to thegame engine (e.g., based on the game logic). In particular embodiments,an application data update occurs when the value of a specificapplication datum is changed. In particular embodiments, eachapplication event datum may include an action or event name and a value(such as an object identifier). Thus, each application datum may berepresented as a name-value pair in the batch file. The batch file mayinclude a collection of name-value pairs representing the applicationdata that have been updated at client system 530. In particularembodiments, the batch file may be a text file and the name-value pairsmay be in string format.

In particular embodiments, when a player plays an online game on clientsystem 530, game networking system 520 b may serialize all thegame-related data, including, for example and without limitation, gamestates, game events, user inputs, for this particular user and thisparticular game into a BLOB and store the BLOB in a database. The BLOBmay be associated with an identifier that indicates that the BLOBcontains the serialized game-related data for a particular player and aparticular online game. In particular embodiments, while a player is notplaying the online game, the corresponding BLOB may be stored in thedatabase. This enables a player to stop playing the game at any timewithout losing the current state of the game the player is in. When aplayer resumes playing the game next time, game networking system 520 bmay retrieve the corresponding BLOB from the database to determine themost-recent values of the game-related data. In particular embodiments,while a player is playing the online game, game networking system 520 bmay also load the corresponding BLOB into a memory cache so that thegame system may have faster access to the BLOB and the game-related datacontained therein.

Social Networking System 520 a and Game Networking System 520 bcommunicate with a push messaging server 501. An API may be provided tointerface both social networking system 520 a and game networking system520 b with the push messaging server 501. The push messaging server 501may be configured to push messages to client system 530.

FIG. 5B illustrates one embodiment of the push messaging server 501(which is also illustrated in FIG. 3). The push messaging server 501 mayinclude a message cache 550, a message queue 552, and a messageprocessor 554. The message cache 550 stores a content of the message.The message queue 552 queues the message. The message processor 554processes the message from the message cache and the message queue tonotify the first and second server node of the message.

System and Methods

In particular embodiments, one or more described webpages may beassociated with a networking system or networking service. However,alternate embodiments may have application to the retrieval andrendering of structured documents hosted by any type of networkaddressable resource or web site. Additionally, as used herein, a usermay be an individual, a group, or an entity (such as a business or thirdparty application).

Particular embodiments may operate in a wide area network environment,such as the Internet, including multiple network addressable systems.FIG. 6 illustrates an example network environment 600, in which variousexample embodiments may operate. Network cloud 660 generally representsone or more interconnected networks, over which the systems and hostsdescribed herein can communicate. Network cloud 660 may includepacket-based wide area networks (such as the Internet), privatenetworks, wireless networks, satellite networks, cellular networks,paging networks, and the like. As FIG. 6 illustrates, particularembodiments may operate in a network environment 600 comprising one ormore networking systems, such as social networking system 620 a, gamenetworking system 620 b, and one or more client systems 630. Thecomponents of social networking system 620 a and game networking system620 b operate analogously; as such, hereinafter they may be referred tosimply as networking system 620. Client systems 630 are operablyconnected to the network environment 600 via a network service provider,a wireless carrier, or any other suitable means.

Networking system 620 is a network addressable system that, in variousexample embodiments, comprises one or more physical servers 622 and datastores 624. The one or more physical servers 622 are operably connectedto the network cloud 660 via, by way of example, a set of routers and/ornetworking switches 626. In an example embodiment, the functionalityhosted by the one or more physical servers 622 may include web or HTTPservers, FTP servers, as well as, without limitation, webpages andapplications implemented using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script,PHP Hyper-text Preprocessor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP), Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Java,JavaScript, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), Flash, ActionScript,and the like.

Physical servers 622 may host functionality directed to the operationsof networking system 620. Hereinafter servers 622 may be referred to asserver 622, although server 622 may include numerous servers hosting,for example, networking system 620, as well as other contentdistribution servers, data stores, and databases. Data store 624 maystore content and data relating to, and enabling, operation ofnetworking system 620 as digital data objects. A data object, inparticular embodiments, is an item of digital information typicallystored or embodied in a data file, database, or record. Content objectsmay take many forms, including: text (e.g., ASCII, SGML, HTML), images(e.g., jpeg, tif and gif), graphics (vector-based or bitmap), audio,video (e.g., mpeg), or other multimedia, and combinations thereof.Content object data may also include executable code objects (e.g.,games executable within a browser window or frame), podcasts, etc.Logically, data store 624 corresponds to one or more of a variety ofseparate and integrated databases, such as relational databases andobject-oriented databases, that maintain information as an integratedcollection of logically related records or files stored on one or morephysical systems. Structurally, data store 624 may generally include oneor more of a large class of data storage and management systems. Inparticular embodiments, data store 624 may be implemented by anysuitable physical system(s) including components, such as one or moredatabase servers, mass storage media, media library systems, storagearea networks, data storage clouds, and the like. In one exampleembodiment, data store 624 includes one or more servers, databases(e.g., MySQL), and/or data warehouses. Data store 624 may include dataassociated with different networking system 620 users and/or clientsystems 630.

Client system 630 is generally a computer or computing device includingfunctionality for communicating (e.g., remotely) over a computernetwork. Client system 630 may be a desktop computer, laptop computer,personal digital assistant (PDA), in- or out-of-car navigation system,smart phone or other cellular or mobile phone, or mobile gaming device,among other suitable computing devices. Client system 630 may executeone or more client applications, such as a web browser (e.g., MicrosoftInternet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, andOpera), to access and view content over a computer network. Inparticular embodiments, the client applications allow a user of clientsystem 630 to enter addresses of specific network resources to beretrieved, such as resources hosted by networking system 620. Theseaddresses can be Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and the like. Inaddition, once a page or other resource has been retrieved, the clientapplications may provide access to other pages or records when the user“clicks” on hyperlinks to other resources. By way of example, suchhyperlinks may be located within the webpages and provide an automatedway for the user to enter the URL of another page and to retrieve thatpage.

A webpage or resource embedded within a webpage, which may itselfinclude multiple embedded resources, may include data records, such asplain textual information, or more complex digitally encoded multimediacontent, such as software programs or other code objects, graphics,images, audio signals, videos, and so forth. One prevalent markuplanguage for creating webpages is the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).Other common web browser-supported languages and technologies includethe Extensible Markup Language (XML), the Extensible Hypertext MarkupLanguage (XHTML), JavaScript, Flash, ActionScript, Cascading Style Sheet(CSS), and, frequently, Java. By way of example, HTML enables a pagedeveloper to create a structured document by denoting structuralsemantics for text and links, as well as images, web applications, andother objects that can be embedded within the page. Generally, a webpagemay be delivered to a client as a static document; however, through theuse of web elements embedded in the page, an interactive experience maybe achieved with the page or a sequence of pages. During a user sessionat the client, the web browser interprets and displays the pages andassociated resources received or retrieved from the website hosting thepage, as well as, potentially, resources from other websites.

When a user at a client system 630 desires to view a particular webpage(hereinafter also referred to as target structured document) hosted bynetworking system 620, the user's web browser, or other documentrendering engine or suitable client application, formulates andtransmits a request to networking system 620. The request generallyincludes a URL or other document identifier as well as metadata or otherinformation. By way of example, the request may include informationidentifying the user, such as a user ID, as well as informationidentifying or characterizing the web browser or operating systemrunning on the user's client system 630. The request may also includelocation information identifying a geographic location of the user'sclient system or a logical network location of the user's client system.The request may also include a timestamp identifying when the requestwas transmitted.

Although the example network environment 600 described above andillustrated in FIG. 6 is described with respect to social networkingsystem 620 a and game networking system 620 b, this disclosureencompasses any suitable network environment using any suitable systems.As an example and not by way of limitation, a network environment mayinclude online media systems, online reviewing systems, online searchengines, online advertising systems, or any combination of two or moresuch systems.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example computing system architecture, which maybe used to implement server 622 or client system 630 of FIG. 6. In oneembodiment, hardware system 700 comprises a processor 702, a cachememory 704, and one or more executable modules and drivers, stored on atangible computer-readable medium, directed to the functions describedherein. Additionally, hardware system 700 may include a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 706 and a standard I/O bus 708. A host bridge 710may couple processor 702 to high performance I/O bus 706, whereas I/Obus bridge 712 couples the two buses 706 and 708 to each other. A systemmemory 714 and one or more network/communication interfaces 716 maycouple to bus 706. Hardware system 700 may further include video memory(not shown) and a display device coupled to the video memory. Massstorage 718 and I/O ports 720 may couple to bus 708. Hardware system 700may optionally include a keyboard, a pointing device, and a displaydevice (not shown) coupled to bus 708. Collectively, these elements areintended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems,including but not limited to general purpose computer systems based onthe x86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

The elements of hardware system 700 are described in greater detailbelow. In particular, network interface 716 provides communicationbetween hardware system 700 and any of a wide range of networks, such asan Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. Mass storage718 provides permanent storage for the data and programming instructionsto perform the above-described functions implemented in servers 622,whereas system memory 714 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storage forthe data and programming instructions when executed by processor 702.I/O ports 720 are one or more serial and/or parallel communication portsthat provide communication between additional peripheral devices, whichmay be coupled to hardware system 700.

Hardware system 700 may include a variety of system architectures andvarious components of hardware system 700 may be rearranged. Forexample, cache memory 704 may be on-chip with processor 702.Alternatively, cache memory 704 and processor 702 may be packed togetheras a “processor module,” with processor 702 being referred to as the“processor core.” Furthermore, certain embodiments of the presentdisclosure may neither call for nor include all of the above components.For example, the peripheral devices shown coupled to standard I/O bus708 may couple to high performance I/O bus 706. In addition, in someembodiments, only a single bus may exist, with the components ofhardware system 700 being coupled to the single bus. Furthermore,hardware system 700 may include additional components, such asadditional processors, storage devices, or memories.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of hardwaresystem 700, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may beused, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh OperatingSystem, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIXoperating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operatingsystems, and the like. Of course, other embodiments are possible. Forexample, the functions described herein may be implemented in firmwareor on an application-specific integrated circuit.

Furthermore, the above-described elements and operations can becomprised of instructions that are stored on non-transitory storagemedia. The instructions can be retrieved and executed by a processingsystem. Some examples of instructions are software, program code, andfirmware. Some examples of non-transitory storage media are memorydevices, tape, disks, integrated circuits, and servers. The instructionsare operational when executed by the processing system to direct theprocessing system to operate in accord with the disclosure. The term“processing system” refers to a single processing device or a group ofinter-operational processing devices. Some examples of processingdevices are integrated circuits and logic circuitry. Those skilled inthe art are familiar with instructions, computers, and storage media.

MISCELLANEOUS

One or more features from any embodiment may be combined with one ormore features of any other embodiment without departing from the scopeof the disclosure.

A recitation of “a”, “an,” or “the” is intended to mean “one or more”unless specifically indicated to the contrary. In addition, it is to beunderstood that functional operations, such as “awarding”, “locating”,“permitting” and the like, are executed by game application logic thataccesses, and/or causes changes to, various data attribute valuesmaintained in a database or other memory.

The present disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsherein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the exampleembodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art wouldcomprehend.

For example, the methods, game features and game mechanics describedherein may be implemented using hardware components, softwarecomponents, and/or any combination thereof. By way of example, whileembodiments of the present disclosure have been described as operatingin connection with a networking website, various embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be used in connection with any communicationsfacility that supports web applications. Furthermore, in someembodiments the term “web service” and “website” may be usedinterchangeably and additionally may refer to a custom or generalizedAPI on a device, such as a mobile device (e.g., cellular phone, smartphone, personal GPS, personal digital assistance, personal gamingdevice, etc.), that makes API calls directly to a server. Still further,while the embodiments described above operate with business-relatedvirtual objects (such as stores and restaurants), the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein can be applied to any in-game asset around whicha harvest mechanic is implemented, such as a virtual stove, a plot ofland, and the like. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, tobe regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It will,however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be madethereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of thedisclosure as set forth in the claims and that the disclosure isintended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope ofthe following claims.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a first web node configuredto receive a message from a first player at a first client node for asecond player at a second client node within an online game; a firstserver node configured to maintain a first persistent connection withthe first client node; a second server node configured to maintain asecond persistent connection with the second client node; a pushmessaging server configured to store a game state of the first andsecond players of the online game, to update the game state based on themessage, and to notify the first and second server node; and a secondweb node configured to receive the message from the push messagingserver and to forward the message to the second client node after thesecond server node notifies the second client node of the message viathe second persistent connection.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thepush messaging server comprises a message cache configured to store acontent of the message, a message queue configured to queue the message,and a message processor configured to process the message from themessage cache and the message queue and to notify the first and secondserver nodes of the message.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein themessage processor identifies the game state of the second player basedon the message queue, and identifies the second server node based on thegame state of the second player.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein themessage cache updates the game state based on the message from the firstclient node and forwards the message to the second web node.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the game state comprises a serialized andpersisted binary representation of a player's game state.
 6. The systemof claim 5, wherein the serialized and persisted binary representationof the player's game state comprises resources, level, social networkinformation, list of neighbors, identity, and game board.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the game state comprises a user state, a playerstate, and a game world state.
 8. A method comprising: receiving, at afirst web node, a message from a first player at a first client node fora second player at a second client node within an online game;maintaining, at a first server node, a first persistent connection withthe first client node; maintaining, at a second server node, a secondpersistent connection with the second client node; storing, at a pushmessaging server, a game state of the first and second players of theonline game, updating the game state based on the message, and notifyingthe first and second server node; and receiving, at a second web node,the message from the push messaging server and forwarding the message tothe second client node after the second server node notifies the secondclient node of the message via the second persistent connection.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: storing a content of the messagein a message cache of the push messaging server; queuing the message ina message queue of the push messaging server; processing the message ina message processor of the push messaging server; and notifying thefirst and second server nodes of the message with the message processorof the push messaging server.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: identifying, with the message processor, the game state ofthe second player based on the message queue; and identifying the secondserver node based on the game state of the second player.
 11. The methodof claim 9, further comprising: updating, with the message cache, thegame state based on the message from the first client node; andforwarding the message to the second web node.
 12. The method of claim8, wherein the game state comprises a serialized and persisted binaryrepresentation of a player's game state.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the serialized and persisted binary representation of theplayer's game state comprises resources, level, social networkinformation, list of neighbors, identity, and game board.
 14. The methodof claim 8, wherein the game state comprises a user state, a playerstate, and a game world state.
 15. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: assigning a player to a corresponding message state on a webnode; polling a web server on a periodic interval for new messages inthe corresponding message state with a poll timer; generating an activeconnection between a client node and the web server; adding a message tothe player's corresponding message state; pushing the message to the webserver stored in the player's message state to notify a client of theplayer; and receiving a request from the client to fetch the message andreset the poll timer.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to perform operations, comprising: receiving, at afirst web node, a message from a first player at a first client node fora second player at a second client node within an online game;maintaining, at a first server node, a first persistent connection withthe first client node; maintaining, at a second server node, a secondpersistent connection with the second client node; storing, at a pushmessaging server, a game state of the first and second players of theonline game, updating the game state based on the message, and notifyingthe first and second server node; and receiving, at a second web node,the message from the push messaging server and forwarding the message tothe second client node after the second server node notifies the secondclient node of the message via the second persistent connection.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, furthercomprising: storing a content of the message in a message cache of thepush messaging server; queuing the message in a message queue of thepush messaging server; processing the message in a message processor ofthe push messaging server; and notifying the first and second servernodes of the message with the message processor of the push messagingserver.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim17, further comprising: identifying, with the message processor, thegame state of the second player based on the message queue; andidentifying the second server node based on the game state of the secondplayer.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim17, further comprising: updating, with the message cache, the game statebased on the message from the first client node; and forwarding themessage to the second web node.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, further comprising: assigning a player to acorresponding message state on a web node; polling a web server on aperiodic interval for new messages in the corresponding message statewith a poll timer; generating an active connection between a client nodeand the web server; adding a message to the player's correspondingmessage state; pushing the message to the web server stored in theplayer's message state to notify a client of the player; and receiving arequest from the client to fetch the message and reset the poll timer.